Upshot: Delicious flavors of the exotic and healthy, served in the most convenient way.

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ASHEVILLE - Lunchtime here on weekdays looks a lot like the cafeteria of the Time-Warner building at Rockefeller Center - suited gentlemen, and women with briefcases and sensible heels lined up to dig into a midday meal between meetings.

No hot dogs and lunchmeats here, though, Ali Baba Restaurant in the Grove Arcade has become a welcome stop for a quick bite for scores of downtown workers who like a little something different. Weekends see tourists gleefully gnawing on succulent chicken kebobs, giddy at finding what appears to be an "insider's" locale by all accounts.

The reason is obvious - Ali Baba offers delicious, healthy food right at your fingertips in a cafeteria-style serve-yourself hot bar. Take out or dine in at the pleasant cafe tables in the Grove Arcade's south hall, just up from the market place.

The Middle-eastern café has clearly found a following, and it's no surprise with its array of reasonably priced savory delights. They are the creations of the Ali family from Cairo, Egypt, who moved to the area a decade ago. While father and mother Fathi and Reda master the cooking in the small kitchen in back of the restaurant, charming son Amro chats with customers as he weighs and rings up their selections.

Space is at a premium here. There's just room for the aforementioned hot bar and a cooler with Perrier, Cokes, and other beverages. So choose from a plate or takeout box, real silverware or plastic picnic-ware, and help yourself to lemony hummus; tender chicken kebobs also speared with onion, tomato, peppers and zucchini; and ever so crisp falafel. There are also parsley potatoes; eggplant; saffron rice or couscous; chickpea salad; dips and sauces.

Every time I've visited (and it's been often), the large falafel - ground chickpeas and spices, flash fried to be crispy with the first bite - have maintained nice body and excellent flavor on the inside. While falafel can be dry or tough at their worst, Ali Baba never seems to disappoint with its preparation.

Add to that a few dollops of hummus and baba-ghanough (pronounced gah-noosh), a flavorful mixture of mashed roasted eggplants with roasted garlic, lemon juice, tahini, and olive oil. Ali Baba's moussaka is often served without meat - just eggplant in a lightly spiced tomato-based sauce. That said, the Alis have done a masterful job at making eggplant not only bearable, but downright tasty.

Other choices on the bar include a homemade soup, roasted vegetables in olive oil, stuffed grape leaves, green salad, artichoke salad, tabouleh - made of cracked bulgur wheat, fresh parsley, onion, tomato, olive oil and lemon juice, and a pinch of dried mint. Sometimes there are stuffed peppers too. While not everything might be on the bar at the same time, you're sure to get a variety, with steaming new trays added throughout lunch or dinnertime. The dishes simply don't last long enough to get that too-warmed over look about them.

Top your main selections with sauces, such as cool homemade yogurt with cucumbers and mint; tahini (made of crushed sesame seeds, sesame oil, garlic, and lemon juice; and vinaigrette for the salads. Pick from a basket of pita bread to help scoop up hummus, et al.

Simply put, there's just no reason not to like Ali Baba - it's quick, healthy, well-priced and an adventurous departure from the same old lunch (and dinner). The only thing that could be better is a larger space, perhaps even outdoor seating, so one could linger over the "out of the ordinary," - something the Alis hint that they are working on.